This invention relates generally to wireless networks and, more particularly, relates to the operation of a wireless node functioning at the same time as a member of multiple disjoint channels in a single wireless network.
With the development and deployment of wireless networking devices such as laptop computers, personal digital assistant devices, etc. and infrastructures, consumers and businesses are increasingly being able to realize the benefits of true mobile computing, collaboration, and information exchange. No longer are business travelers required to carry an assortment of cables and search endlessly for an available data port simply to connect to a network to retrieve email messages, download files, or exchange information. No longer are companies and home consumers restrained in where they may access their networks by the location of the Ethernet jacks on the wall. Meeting participants and groups of friends may now form their own ad hoc networks without connecting cables between themselves or logging in to some preexisting network. They can log onto the network using a wireless protocol while running on battery power, thereby allowing even greater mobility.
However, while the concept of mobile computing on wireless networks is well accepted, the implementation of this concept has taken on many forms. That is, there now exists several different wireless protocol standards that are competing in the marketplace. These standards include 802.11b (also know as Wi-Fi for wireless fidelity), 802.11a (also know as Wi-Fi5), 802.11 g, HomeRF, Bluetooth, Wireless 1394, HiperLAN2, UWB, ZigBee, etc. Each of these different standards has particular advantages and is being developed with particular applications and users in mind. Despite the numerous standards, devices conducting network communications over wireless links are becoming increasing popular.
Wireless links typically transmit data over radio frequency channels but may operate over other carrier frequency ranges, such as infrared. Most radio frequency (“RF”) based wireless networks are designed to be able to operate in two basic modes: the infrastructure mode and the peer-to-peer or ad hoc mode.
In the infrastructure (“IS”) mode, which is also sometimes referred to as the managed network mode, each wireless network node communicates with the other nodes in the network through an access point (“AP”) node of the IS network. The packets directed by an IS node to another IS node carry the AP's Media Access Control (“MAC”) address in the link layer header. The access point functions as a bridge, repeater, gateway, and/or firewall between wireless nodes and wired nodes of the network. The access point may apportion bandwidth of the communication channel to the wireless IS nodes to ensure the quality of the communications. In the ad hoc (“AH”) mode, a wireless node communicates directly, i.e., in a peer-to-peer fashion, with other nodes within its RF range without going through an intermediate node such as the access point of the IS network. Ad hoc wireless network connections are useful when close-by users want to communicate with each other in places where no IS network exists, or when they fail to be authorized by the access point of an existing IS network.
Conventionally, there is no interaction between nodes in an infrastructure network and nodes in an ad hoc network even if they have overlapping transmission ranges. There are, however, a number of scenarios in which it is desirable for a device to be connected simultaneously to multiple wireless networks. For instance, in one scenario, employees from company A conduct a business meeting at company B with an employee of company B. Company B has an internal corporate network that supports an infrastructure wireless network. The visitors need to share electronic information such as documents, presentations, and data with their host. This can be done if the visitors can use their laptop computers to communicate wirelessly with the laptop computer of company B. For security concerns, the visitors are not allowed access to company B's internal network. Thus, the laptop computers of the visitors cannot operate as nodes of company B's infrastructure network.
Currently, multiple wireless network interface cards are used in the device to connect to multiple networks. Unfortunately, using multiple wireless network interface cards in battery operated devices is highly undesirable because of the excessive energy drain and consequent reduction of device lifetime. The computer industry has recognized this problem and has developed and is developing solutions. For example, methods have been developed to conserve battery power in devices to extend the time between battery charges. Another method, developed by the assignee of the instant application, uses a dual-mode wireless device that switches back and forth between an IS network and an AH network with the switching triggered by either polls signals transmitted by an access point of the IS network or by the controller of the dual-mode wireless device.
Although ad-hoc networks provide the ability to connect wireless nodes when an infrastructure network is unavailable, modern computers often find that the capacity of ad-hoc networks to be unsatisfactory. If one attempts to address this by having nodes switch across channels (and therefore distribute the burden of supporting a given communication pattern), a new challenge arises. When multiple devices are switching between orthogonal channels of a network, it is possible that two devices switching between the channels of a network get synchronized such that when one device switches to one network channel, the other one switches out of the network channel to another network channel or are switching between different network channels in lock-step. In other words, the devices are never on the same network channel at the same time. The two devices will never be able to communicate with each other on the network because the packets they send to each other are not buffered by any third party such as an Access point for delivery to the node when it switches onto the channel the third party is using.